Every public school district in the area met or exceeded performance expectations in preliminary report cards released Tuesday by the state's Department of Public Instruction.

Districts and schools are evaluated in four main areas: student achievement in reading and math on statewide assessments; student growth in those assessments; closing achievement and graduation gaps; and readiness for college or careers. Accountability scores are calculated on a scale of zero to 100.

Iola-Scandinavia and the Tomorrow River school districts each achieved "exceeds expectations" status, while the Almond-Bancroft, Rosholt, Stevens Point Area Public and Tri-County Area districts were graded as "meets expectations."

The Stevens Point Area Public School District received an overall score of 71.9, slightly down from last year's 72.2. Bannach, Jefferson, Kennedy, Madison and McDill Elementary Schools; P.J. Jacobs Junior High School and Stevens Point Area Senior High achieved scores that exceeded expectations.

Stevens Point Superintendent Attila Weninger said in a news release that he was pleased that Bannach, Madison and P.J. Jacobs all increased to "exceeds expectations" this year, and that 10 of the district's 12 schools increased their overall scores from the previous year.

"We are proud of the commitment to our schools by parents, and we are particularly proud of our staff and students for their commitment to excellence," Weninger said in the release. "Every school in our district is capable of exceeding standards and more, and we have the teachers, students, staff, parents and community to do it."

Iola-Scandinavia posted the highest overall local score with a 75.6, slightly below last year's 75.7. The Tomorrow River School District, meanwhile, moved from "meets expectations" to "exceeding expectations" in its high school, middle school and elementary school.

Mike Toelle, elementary principal for the Tomorrow River School District, said the district has worked hard to focus on improving reading, math and language proficiency among a student body of more than 1,100.

"We're really working to refine our curriculum so it's consistent across the grade levels, and to show this kind of progress while we're continuing to add students is something we're proud of," Toelle said.

The report cards for about 2,100 public schools show about 88 percent in Wisconsin met or exceeded expectations in 2013-14. About 98 percent of the state's 424 districts also achieved that mark.

It's the second year the state Department of Public Instruction has issued district report cards and the third year for schools.

Nathan Vine can be reached at 715-345-2252. Find him on Twitter as @SPJNathanVine.

Preliminary DPI Report Cards

Almond-Bancroft (overall) — Meets expectations (69.8)

Almond-Bancroft High School — Exceeds expectations (79.3)

Almond-Bancroft Elementary — Meets expectations (63.8)

Iola-Scandinavia (overall) — Exceeds expectations (75.6)

Iola-Scandinavia High School — Meets expectations (72.1)

Iola-Scandinavia Elementary — Exceeds expectations (76.8)

Rosholt (overall) — Meets expectations (69.2)

Rosholt High School — Exceeds expectations (79.6)

Rosholt Middle School — Meets expectations (65.1)

Rosholt Elementary — Meets expectations (72.8)

Stevens Point Area Public (overall) — Meets expectations (71.9)

Stevens Point Area Senior High School — Meets expectations (76.6)

Ben Franklin Junior High — Meets expectations (71.0)

P.J. Jacobs Junior High — Meets expectations (72.7)

Bannach Elementary — Exceeds expectations (74.9)

Jefferson School for the Arts — Exceeds expectations (74.9)

Kennedy Elementary — Exceeds expectations (77.2)

Madison Elementary — Exceeds expectations (75.4)

McDill Elementary — Exceeds expectations (76.0)

McKinley Center — Meets expectations (69.4)

Plover-Whiting Elementary — Meets expectations (71.7)

Roosevelt IDEA — Meets expectations (70.7)

Washington Elementary — Meets expectations (66.8)

Tomorrow River (overall) — Exceeds expectation (73.3)

Amherst High School — Exceeds expectations (73.7)

Amherst Middle School — Exceeds expectations (76.8)

Amherst Elementary — Exceeds expectations (75.9)

Tri-County Area (overall) — Meets expectations (66.4)

Tri-County High School — Meets few expectations (59.8)

Tri-County Middle School — Meets expectations (64.0)

Tri-County Elementary — Meets expectations (72.6)

Source: State Department of Public Instruction

Find out more

The state Department of Public Instruction's report cards for school districts and schools are available at http://reportcards.dpi.wi.gov/.